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Although there was a time when the Benjamin Loan Mills were alive with activity, those days are now gone. They ended a century ago when the gristmill and the sawmill closed in 1901 after yet another fire. When the smoke cleared, Christian Deardorff, the mills' last owner, may have sighed with relief, for he had been trying sporadically to sell the mills for thirteen years, ever since he had rebuilt them after an earlier fire. In 1901, when again faced with fire-damaged mills, Deardorff decided not to rebuild them. In doing so, he also closed the last chapter in the history of these mills. [excerpt]